I recently polled y'all asking for your childhood favorite dishes, that you'd love to see somewhat "healthified". I had never heard of Chicken Divan before the poll, but it was hands down one of the TOP requested items!

Upon further inspection of classic recipes, I can understand why. It's rich, comforting and frankly, usually packed with addictive MSG, found in all canned "cream of's". But I knew I could find a way to create fabulous, gotta-have-more flavor without any fake foods.

In my version, I sub half of the cream cheese for yogurt, and I rely on the sweetness of sautéed alliums (onion, shallot, garlic) for depth of flavor. I also use rotisserie chicken to save time, but you can certainly cook it up yourself if you prefer! And perhaps best yet, I managed to hide a whole 12 ounce bag of cauliflower rice in this dish! It adds volume and texture but you cannot taste it at all.

This is a recipe where quality matters. If possible, look for cream cheese, yogurt and cheddar that's source from pastured raised cows or is at least organic. The dish makes a ton of food, so you're saving $ on multiple meals. If you can splurge on quality dairy, it will make a difference on how your body digests and assimilates it.

I have enjoyed my Chicken Divan over buttery rice, noodles and even scooped with chips...all equally delicious. That said, it's completely keto, if you want to just serve as-is or with some more non-starchy veggies.

For those of you who grew up with this dish, please let me know if I did it justice, if there's room for improvements! xo

LL

SHARE THIS:

TOTAL TIME :60minutes35minutes

10servings

INGREDIENTS

1whole rotisserie chicken, cooled enough to handle and meat shredded(approximately 4 cups if you want to cook it yourself)

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13x2 casserole dish. Add shredded chicken to the dish and set aside.

Heat a large saucepan to medium heat and add olive oil. When oil moves quickly around the pan, add onions and shallots. Cook, stirring every minute or so, until softened and translucent, approximately 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, another 30 seconds. Turn off heat, stir in ¼ cup water and keep pan on the warm burner.

Place half (6 ounces) of your frozen cauliflower rice in a microwave-safe dish and microwave 2 minutes, or until completely thawed. Add to a blender, along with yogurt, cream cheese, coconut milk, salt, pepper, onion powder and paprika. Scrape cooked onion mixture into the blender as well, and puree until smooth and creamy.

To your casserole dish, add 1 cup grated cheese, broccoli pieces and remaining cauliflower rice (can still be frozen, just break up any chunks). Pour cream sauce over everything and carefully stir to evenly incorporate and spread in an even layer. Top with remaining cup grated cheese and crushed buttery crackers, if using.

Bake for 1 hour, then allow to cool 15 minutes before enjoying.
Leftovers will keep tightly sealed in the fridge up to 4 days or frozen 6-8 months. I suggest freezing in pint containers, which are about 1 serving each.